Butternut squash apple soup

Butternut squash and apple soup is by far one of my favorite soups and though the ingredients are available all year round, I typically make it in the fall.

It comes from A Year of The Best from The Best of Bridge. It’s a seasonal cookbook that has lots of tasty recipes that have become favorites around our house. Though a lot of what you may find in them may not be whole food recipes, there’s enough of them that are to make it worth keeping the cookbook around, with some real gems scattered throughout. This is one of those gems.

This butternut squash apple soup is easy to make and it barely requires a recipe, once you’ve made it a couple of times. I served this as our first course for Thanksgiving diner this year. I made it ahead and froze it, so come the big day, I could thaw, reheat and serve over little cubes of Camembert cheese sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Yum.

There’s something so great about dipping your spoon into a bowl of rich and creamy butternut squash soup and to get a spoonful of gooey cheese. The cheese melts into a velvety unexpected layer. Of course this is easy to make into a vegan soup by omitting the cheese. It’s still delicious without!

Butternut squash soup with apples and Camembert

6 cups roasted butter squash (approximately 2 medium sized squash)

1 large leek (or 3 small), whites only, sliced

2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 medium onions, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 bay leaf

8 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 inch cube of Camembert per person, rind removed

To roast the squash, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut each squash in half length wise. Place face down on a baking pan. Roast until soft when poked with the tip of a knife, approximately 45 minutes. Scoop out the seeds and discard (also good for making roasted seeds), scoop out the flesh of the squash using a large spoon and discard the skin.

In a large pot, cook the leeks, carrots and onions with 1 tablespoon of oil until the onions become soft. Add the apples, bay leaf, stock and cooked squash. Simmer for 40 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and blend with an emulsion blender until smooth. Or use a blender or food processor. Just be mindful to let the soup cool down before attempting that! Reheat soup if necessary before serving.

Place a 1 inch cubes of Camembert at the bottom of each bowl. Pour hot soup over cheese and serve immediately.

*Optional: Garnish with bacon bits